This invention relates to drive carriers for media drives. More specifically, this invention relates to drive carriers which are configured to receive a media drive, and which are also configured to be removably receivable in a receiving location of a computer system.
Computer systems typically include one or more media drives such as a hard disk drives, CD ROM drives or DVD drives. One or more receiving locations can be included in the chassis of a computer for receiving these drives. The media drives can either be directly mounted within those receiving locations, or may be first received in a carrier, which is itself receivable in a receiving location.
Existing solutions for installing media drives within a computer system often fail to effectively address one or more of the following design considerations.
It is often desirable that a media drive be configured as a field replaceable unit (FRU) and that it be hot-pluggable so as to reduce down time in the event that the media drive needs replacing. Accordingly, it is desirable that the media drive be quickly and easily installable within the chassis of a computer system, as well as quickly and easily removable. While it is known to provide drive carriers which allow a media drive to be slideably inserted into a receiving location, these drive carriers require a number of separate steps to be taken to insert and then secure the drive carrier in place. For example, it may be necessary to first push the drive carrier into the receiving location and then perform a separate operation to secure the drive carrier once it is in place. For example, when holding the handle of a drive carrier, a first movement in a first direction may be required to insert the drive carrier into a receiving location and then a second, separate movement of a handle of the drive carrier in a direction different to the first direction (for example a pivotal motion) may be required to secure the drive carrier in the receiving location. Existing drive carriers also often fail to provide a user with feedback on insertion of the drive into a receiving location, whereby it is often not apparent whether the drive is correctly positioned/received.
It is also desirable that a media drive be provided with a degree of electromagnetic interference (EMI) protection. Protection against electrostatic discharge (ESD) is also desirable. Features which protect against EMI and ESD often include metal protrusions which protrude from the drive carrier to press against a metallic feature of a receiving location such as a wall of the receiving location or a neighbouring media drive. These features can thus hinder easy insertion/removal of the media drive within/from the receiving location since sliding resistance against the insertion/removal is increased.
The present invention aims to provide a drive carrier for a media drive which addresses at least some of the problems of existing drive carriers indicated above.